The UCLA Library’s Modern Endangered Archives Program (MEAP) has awarded 30 grants to its eighth annual cohort. Selected from a record 250 applications, the projects span 21 countries and focus on safeguarding at-risk archival collections documenting community memory and history.
Since launching in 2018 with support from Arcadia (a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin), MEAP has funded more than 200 projects preserving print, photographic, audiovisual, and born-digital materials threatened by environmental conditions, political uncertainty, and inadequate storage.
This year’s cohort includes efforts documenting resistance to human rights violations and political violence. In Guatemala, researchers will survey archives of Ixil survivors’ mobilization for justice. In Mexico, a team will preserve records from the country’s first truth commission (2022–2024).
Oral traditions and cultural memory are also prioritized. In Indonesia, a team will digitize recordings held by the Oral Traditions Association, building on an earlier MEAP survey. In the Philippines, researchers will preserve the Ulahingan, an oral epic of the Indigenous Livunganen-Arumanen Manobo people.
Photography collections feature prominently, including two South African archives (photographer Anne Fischer and the Van Kalker Studio) and Argentine photographer Juan Gómez’s materials related to fotoclubismo, a 20th-century photography club movement.
Applications rose 25% over the previous year. To address growing demand, especially for audiovisual materials, Arcadia has awarded a new $2 million grant. Beginning in 2027, this funding will establish dedicated MEAP AV Grants of up to $100,000 per project (approximately five awards annually) supporting work on deteriorating media, obsolete formats, specialized equipment, and digitization. The award will also expand capacity for print and other materials.
“There is an enormous need around the world to preserve endangered cultural heritage,” said Rachel Deblinger, director of MEAP. “Arcadia recognized an opportunity to ease the demands on the program while expanding support for audiovisual collections.”
Materials created with MEAP funding will be published through the open-access UCLA Library Digital Collections repository for community use, research, and instruction.